Journey Art Supplies Blog
Tips, Tricks, Thoughts, and inspiration from across the art spectrum.
How to Make DIY Christmas Cards with Goof Proof...
"Ah, Christmas! It’s that magical time of year when everything sparkles—tinsel, snow, and maybe even a little glitter from your last art project. For us, it’s also the perfect season to grab our favorite supplies and dive into making handmade Christmas cards. This year, we’re walking you through the process of creating festive cards with Cheap Joe’s Goof Proof Greeting Cards—an absolute game-changer for personalized holiday greetings. Why We Love Cheap Joe’s Goof-Proof Cards Let’s start with the star of the show: Cheap Joe's Goof-Proof Greeting Card Set - Deckled Edge, Box of 25. These beauties make creating custom cards a breeze. The set includes high-quality 5x7 card blanks with matching envelopes and, most importantly, cold-pressed watercolor paper inserts. That insert feature is a lifesaver—you don’t have to worry about messing up your design directly on the card itself. If a mistake happens, just redo the insert, attach it, and voilà—no one’s the wiser. Plus, the deckled edges give them that elegant, hand-touched vibe. The Koda Card: Our Festive Inspiration This year, we painted Koda, a regal Red Limousin bull that’s practically Christmas-ready in his rich red coat. We envisioned him pulling Santa’s sleigh (reindeer deserve a day off too, right?). The result? A whimsical, festive piece of artwork that’s personal and fun to share. But here’s our pro tip for long holiday card lists: “Paint One, Print Many.” Create one larger painting, snap a great photo, and have it printed to fit the card size. This way, everyone gets a handmade feel without you pulling all-nighters to paint dozens of cards. Step-by-Step Card Creation Gather Your SuppliesHere’s what we used to make our cards:• Tracing paper (Cheap Joe’s Starving Artist variety—budget-friendly and durable)• Carpenter’s pencil (ideal for transferring patterns)• Kilimanjaro 300lb Watercolor Block (no warping, even with heavy washes)• Kolinsky Sable Brush Set (luxurious, precise, and worth the investment)• Dr. Ph. Martin’s Hydrus Liquid Watercolors (vivid, concentrated, and just fun to use)• Master’s Watercolor Tray (perfect for mixing and keeping colors wet longer) Create Your PatternAfter printing a black-and-white photo of Koda for reference, I used tracing paper and my carpenter’s pencil to transfer the design onto my watercolor paper. A kneadable eraser helps lighten heavy graphite lines—great for keeping your work clean. Layer Your Watercolor WashesI started with a light base wash for Koda, then layered deeper tones to add dimension. Santa’s sleigh got its own bold red treatment, and I used a touch of Phthalo blue for snow shadows. The process is so satisfying—each layer makes the image pop a little more. Photo FinishOnce the painting dried, I photographed it in natural light (pro tip: overcast days work best). After tweaking the photo, I printed it to match the card size. Mounting it onto the Goof-Proof cards was easy with the included adhesive strips. Creative Ideas for Leftover Greeting Card Materials Got leftover materials? Here are a few bonus projects: Turn small scraps into bookmarks or gift tags. Create coloring pages for kids by outlining a festive design. Design mini paintings or magnets as keepsakes. Whether you’re painting reindeer, snowflakes, or a festive bull like Koda, Cheap Joe’s Goof-Proof Cards make the process joyful and, well, goof-proof. Plus, the recipients get a one-of-a-kind piece of art they’ll treasure long after the holidays. So, grab your brushes and let the holiday magic begin!
How to Make DIY Christmas Cards with Goof Proof...
"Ah, Christmas! It’s that magical time of year when everything sparkles—tinsel, snow, and maybe even a little glitter from your last art project. For us, it’s also the perfect season...
How to Make Christmas Greeting Cards
Sending Christmas cards is a tradition cherished since the 1840s, and for good reason—there’s something special about both giving and receiving those little notes of holiday cheer. But what if your Christmas card could do more than spread seasonal sentiment? What if it could double as a piece of art? You can easily make your own Christmas greeting cards through printmaking. Creating your own artistic greeting cards adds a deeply personal touch and turns a simple card into a lasting gift. Your design doesn’t have to scream “Christmas.” Instead, let it reflect your personality and style. A beautiful watercolor, a striking sketch, or even a festive mixed-media creation can become something frame-worthy. Recipients can display your art during the holidays—or year-round, depending on your theme. The key? Design with the intent to inspire. Fun Facts About Christmas Cards Americans send 1.5 billion Christmas cards annually. 85% of those cards are purchased by women. 91% of people over 55 continue this cherished tradition. Nearly 45% of all cards sent during the year are holiday cards. Create Your Own Cards with Cheap Joe’s One of our favorite ways to craft custom cards is with Cheap Joe's Goof-Proof Greeting Card Set - Deckled Edge, Box of 25. This all-in-one kit includes cards, envelopes, adhesive strips, and 4x6 watercolor paper blanks—everything you need to bring your holiday vision to life. Whether you prefer painting, drawing, or printing, this kit is a time-saver for any DIY card enthusiast. However, you can use any type of printmaking papers you’d like. Make It Memorable: Art That Multiplies Looking for some inspiration? Check out this “Winter Horses” project. Here’s how we did it: Transfer the pattern to the Ampersand Aquaboard. These boards have a unique clay surface that is textured and absorbent. They make lifting a breeze for watercolor so it’s difficult to make a mistake. They’re available in flat or cradled panels in various sizes. Completely saturate the surface with clean water. The first wash. The second wash. Adding detail. Refining detail. Completing the painting detail. Finished painting photographed and cropped for printing. This painting yielded a three-fer! Take separate photos of each horse and create an individual card from each. You end up with three unique cards from one painting! Pair your custom cards with affordable frames like the Nielsen Bainbridge Gallery Airfloat Wood Frame or Miller’s Traditions Gallery Wood Frames for a polished gift your loved ones will cherish. A Gift That Lasts Beyond the Season When you take the time to create something unique, your friends and family will look forward to your cards every year. And for those far away, a gift like this can be delivered for the price of a stamp! So, when is a Christmas card more than just a card? When it becomes a heartfelt work of art—a gift that keeps giving long after the holidays. Happy Christmas Card Day, and as always, Paint On!
How to Make Christmas Greeting Cards
Sending Christmas cards is a tradition cherished since the 1840s, and for good reason—there’s something special about both giving and receiving those little notes of holiday cheer. But what if...
Marker Showdown: Copic vs Koda
Copic markers have long been considered the gold standard when it comes to alcohol-based markers – but will Cheap Joe’s brand Koda markers give them a run for their money?
Marker Showdown: Copic vs Koda
Copic markers have long been considered the gold standard when it comes to alcohol-based markers – but will Cheap Joe’s brand Koda markers give them a run for their money?
Better Blending with Alcohol Markers
This step-by-step tutorial for beginners is a great place to start learning more about alcohol marker blending techniques. Even if you are familiar with the basics of using markers, if you want to level up your skills, keep reading to discover some of the advanced techniques we recommend. Have you been too intimidated to draw with markers because they feel so permanent? Give these marker techniques a try and you’ll be surprised by how much more forgiving and fluid the drawing process can be. Have you been frustrated by the so-called “blender markers” not working as you expected to blend colors? In this post, we’ll show you better ways to blend and how to really use a blender marker. Before we get to the markers, we need to start with the paper. Successful marker blending begins with the right paper. Because blending techniques require lots of layering, the paper must be able to absorb the ink without becoming oversaturated too quickly. It needs to strike a balance between just enough bleeding to get the inks and alcohol to merge, but not enough to leak past the drawing area. The wrong paper can either not blend enough and cause unwanted streaks or will bleed too much, causing colors to feather. Check out our basic guide to alcohol markers for more detailed information on choosing the right paper for markers and more. Blending and Layering with Alcohol Markers The ability to create smooth blends is one of the main advantages of alcohol markers. The key to blending is to keep the area wet without letting the ink dry between layers. Find that sweet spot of coloring slow enough to let the alcohol seep into the paper but fast enough so that it doesn’t dry out. Once dry, it’s harder to get smooth transitions between colors and values, although you can go back over them to improve the blend later with more layers. Keep coloring out from the wet edge, working fairly quickly to keep that leading edge wet so it will blend well with the next color. It’s helpful to practice different blending techniques so you can get used to the sweet spot, which can vary slightly between marker and paper brands. Before you begin a blend, plan ahead. The best blends come from using a range of values to transition from one value or color to the next. This is why you’ll find that marker brands feature multiple values of markers within one color family: one for dark, one for a step lighter in value, one for 2 steps lighter in value, and so on. Organize the color groups you plan to use in advance. To blend well, you need to work while the paper is still wet with the marker ink, so spending time searching for the color you need can cost you valuable working time. It’s hard to get a good blend between two colors with a big value difference between them, so use enough small steps between the different marker values for best results. It’s a good idea to test blends before you start so you’ll have a game plan. Layering is crucial to successful blending. Work your color layers back and forth over each other until you get the blend as smooth as you want. When they blend, the inks are actually mixing together almost like watercolor, and you can push them towards or away from each other with the marker nib. In this way, the pressure of the nib almost acts like a palette knife, so the more you physically blend the colors, the smoother the blend can be. Be aware that the colors will darken with repeated layering, and the more alcohol gets added to the paper through layering, the more the ink may bleed past where you want it to. Repeated layering is the secret to getting the colors to blend. It’s like making a sandwich of color 1 over color 2 and color 2 over color 1, etc. until the blend is as smooth as you want. It’s best to work in smaller sections instead of all over a large area so that the ink stays wet while you blend, and you’re not having to rush around the image to create all the blends before the paper dries out. For example, if you have 3 flowers on a stem, work on one flower at a time, even if you’re using the same colors in each flower. It might seem like you’ll save time by coloring the lights in all three and then the darks in all three, but the blending may suffer as a result. If you plan to blend, it’s a good idea not to color all the way out to the edge of a shape because the extra alcohol added to the paper can cause bleeds. Stop about 1/16 of an inch from the edge, then wait a few seconds after the blending has been done to see how far out the color will bleed. If, after some time passes, you still see some white areas near the border, you can touch those up while the rest of the ink is still wet. After a while working with the same markers and paper, you’ll become familiar with how much the layered ink bleeds and how much you need to compensate. How to blend a smooth, large, single-color area without streaks With a chisel tip, use straight, overlapping strokes and then go back over it in the perpendicular direction. You can also color in a circular motion. With either technique, you’ll need to repeat the layers a couple of times to get a smooth color. Each time you do, the value will go slightly darker up to a certain point, which may (or not) be desirable. That’s why it’s helpful to have a light-through-dark collection of the color families you want to use. You can use that lightest color to go over the entire area again to blend without affecting the value or color, which gives better results than using a colorless blender for the same purpose. How to gradate a single color from dark to light to white It’s very easy to make a gradation from dark to light with a single color marker. Since layering a color over itself creates different values, you can control the gradation by simply adding more or fewer layers. When blending the color into the white of the paper, a fun trick is to bleach the tip of the colored marker with a colorless blender. Holding the blender marker on top and the colored one on the bottom, kiss the tips together until you see the color fade from the top 1/16th inch or so from the top. You might need to move the colorless blender back and forth along the tip to get an evenly faded area, especially on chisel tips. In a zig-zag motion, begin coloring with the bleached marker tip, starting where you want it to fade from the white of the paper. As you continue coloring, the colored ink will let down into the marker, creating a perfect gradation. You can also do this with 2 colors to get a nice gradation from one color to the next. The colorless blender leaks into the colored marker to create a temporary gradation from the white of the paper to the full marker color. The same technique can be used with 2 different colored markers. How to create smooth blends starting with light to dark Using the lightest color in your color group, begin by coloring the whole area you intend to gradate, even if that color will disappear under the darker layer. This primes the paper with alcohol, which will make the inks blend together more easily. Because it’s a light color, you can go darker as needed without worrying it will be too dark at the beginning, leaving you little room for more variation. With markers, it’s always easier to go darker than to lighten up a too-dark area. Add your darkest color where you want it. Don’t color it as far out as you think you need it because blending will pull some of that dark for you, and it might go farther than you want. Add your middle value in the area between the dark and light colors. While adding it, color over the dark area with the middle value to blend the two together well. Using your lightest color again, color over the entire area between the middle value and the lightest value and color over the entire area of the gradation again, just like you did in the beginning. The lightest color will smooth the blend without adding much extra color or darkening the values. It also helps unify the colors, especially if you’re having to make do with a color that isn’t necessarily in the same color family but is close. How to create smooth blends starting with dark to light Start with your darkest value and color where you want it to be, but not quite as far out as you want it to extend. The subsequent colors will pull it out farther, so you need to account for that. Add the medium value colored over the darker area and out as far as you want the medium value to be. Again, err on the side of less far out than you want it in the end because the lighter value will pull it out a bit. Add the lightest value where you want it to be and color it over the medium value to blend the transition, continuing over the darker area as well to facilitate the smooth blending of all the values. The more you layer the values, the more alcohol you’re adding to the paper, and the more the colors will blend. How to blend different color families It’s easier to get a good blend between different colors of the same value than it is a dark color into a different color family’s lighter color. The transition between values and colors is simply too great to get a smooth blend. Start with one of the colors colored up to the area where you want it to blend. Add the other color and overlap it with the first color. Repeat steps 1 and 2 until a smooth blend is created. Another approach you can use is to create value gradations in one color from dark to light, then light to dark gradations toward the other color. How to create optical blends with overlapping colors You can create new colors and subtle color variations by overlapping the transparent colors of alcohol markers. Also, if you color in a yellow-green that’s a bit brighter than you meant for it to be, you can mute it by adding a very light violet over the top. Violet and yellow-green are nearly opposite each other on the color wheel, so they mute each other. Similarly, if you need a color in the moment that you don’t yet have in your marker collection, you can overlap 2 of its parent colors to create it. For example, if you want a dark blue violet but you only have a violet and a light blue, you can layer the light blue over the violet until it becomes more bluish. Due to the markers’ transparency, any color you draw over another color will become another color. If you have a yellow bush already drawn that you want to give a slight pinkish cast, you can use a light, bright pink marker without fear it will be too bright because it will be dulled somewhat by the yellow underneath. Similarly, you can get a variety of values from one marker color by using gray value markers in the under-drawing. Don’t have a dark green? Color in a dark gray as the first layer, then the green you do have. This technique works best when the gray and the color are fairly similar in value to begin with so that the gray takes on the characteristics of the color layered over it without overwhelming it. The gray undertone will, of course, mute the overlapping color, so you’ll want to account for that. How to create soft edges and hard edges Sometimes you want a softer edge between colors of values, but not necessarily a blended edge. This can be when you want to contrast far-away elements, such as the background in a landscape, with sharper foreground elements. To get soft edges, you can draw in the background sky and mountains, for example, and while that area is still wet, draw in the elements on the mountains, like trees and boulders. The edges will blend together slightly while the paper is still wet. Contrast that softness with the foreground, where you can use the markers directly on dry paper or a dry ink under-drawing. The edges will be crisp and sharp. Left is wet violet on wet pink, right is wet violet on dry pink. Another way to optically soften the appearance of edges when the ink is already dry is to choose colors that are closer to each other in both value and intensity. They won’t contrast sharply with each other and so the edges will appear softer. For optically sharper edges, choose colors that are more different from each other in intensity and value so the edges will appear sharper. Low-contrast areas tend to sit back in space and attention, while high-contrast areas come forward in space and attention. You might use low-contrast areas for backgrounds and parts of the image not intended to be the focus and save high-contrast areas for foregrounds and focal areas. This is basic color theory. Can I lighten a color once it’s down? Yes, you can…somewhat. You can lighten a color a little bit by using either a lighter color in the same color family or a colorless blender and scrubbing it into the area you want to be lighter. It can take some time and several layers for the lightening process to occur, so be patient and wait a bit before overdoing it. Be aware that lightening in this way will leave a dark line around the lightened area where the extra alcohol pushes into the existing color, which might not be desirable. This is one reason working from dark to light is preferable - it’s easier to make a light color darker, but not vice versa. How and when to use a colorless blender Blender markers don’t contain any ink, but they do contain alcohol and can be used to add colorless alcohol to the page for various reasons outlined below. Ironically, colorless blenders are really not the best tool for blending. They work best in that regard when they’re used to prime the paper before colored ink is added. Pre-wetting an area with alcohol is a good way to help the subsequent color layers blend better. Colorless blenders are also useful for blending a light color into the white of the page. For example, if you want to fade a light color into the white of the paper. If used over darker colors or to blend already dry colors, it will create blooms that add a texture that may not be desirable. Therefore, it’s not a fix-all for blending that didn’t exactly go right the first time around. Blenders can act as an eraser to lighten areas where you made a stray mark. Let the stray mark ink dry and then firmly scribble over it with a bullet tip or chisel tip as if you’re pushing the ink back behind the border it escaped from. The color will lighten a bit, although a stain may remain. If you add too much colorless blender, it will cause a bloom with a hard, dark edge, so be conservative. Of course, the lighter the color is to begin with, the better this will work. Dark colors will leave more of a stain. It may take a few passes with drying time in between to lighten as much as necessary. You can also use a colorless blender to pick up a darker color that you want to blend into a lighter color to apply a smooth blend. Scribble some ink from your darker color onto a non-absorbent surface like a plastic or ceramic palette or plate. After you’ve colored the area you want to blend with a lighter color, you can use the colorless blender to grab some of the color from the palette and apply it as if it were the darker marker. As the picked-up ink is colored out, it will fade back to the colorless alcohol. Similarly, if you want to blend a color into the white of the paper but the color you’re blending is dark and you have no pale color to act as the transition, you can scribble the darker color onto a palette, then use the blender to pick up that color and act as the lighter transition color while you blend into the white of the paper. Don’t worry that you’ve ruined your blender with color! Before you put it away, clean it by scribbling on some scrap paper which will remove the colored ink. A colorless blender can be used to make creative textures and patterns within colors. Use a bullet tip or chisel tip to achieve more pressure and carve back into the dry color to lighten it. You can create stripes, plaid, dots, swirls, scales, a tree trunk, etc. that are a lighter color than the background. Alternatively, you can use a brush tip and simply dab instead of scrubbing to lighten. It takes more time to work, so be patient. You can control the contrast by adding more alcohol or less, scrubbing more or less. If you create these effects on wet ink, you’ll get softer edges than if the ink was dry. You can also use this technique to add highlights while the ink is still wet. If you wait until the ink is dry to go back in with highlights, you’ll get a hard, darker edge which may not be desirable. Similar to a blender pen, straight alcohol can be used to create some interesting textural effects. Fill a spray bottle with alcohol and spritz an area of dried ink. Wait a while for the alcohol to dissolve the color, and you’ll see lighter dots appear in the color. Or, use an eye dropper or brush to add alcohol onto a color, and a lighter area will appear. Left shows alcohol spritzed onto ink, right shows alcohol dropped onto ink. Incorporating the versatility and creativity of alcohol markers into your drawing practice is great for planning in your sketchbook, taking visual notes on site, working through the design process, and finished works of marker art. We hope this information inspires as much as it informs. When you’re ready to get started, we have everything you need in our Art Markers and Marker Sets. Artwork by Amanda Chapman, Cheap Joe’s Outlet Manager. Made with Alcohol Markers and Acrylic Paint Pens
Better Blending with Alcohol Markers
This step-by-step tutorial for beginners is a great place to start learning more about alcohol marker blending techniques. Even if you are familiar with the basics of using markers, if...
What You Need to Know About Alcohol Markers
Have you ever looked at a display of hundreds of colorful markers and thought how fun they would be to use, but you weren’t sure where to begin? We’ve got a few alcohol marker tips and tricks for you, whether you want to begin creating marker art or just need some basic tips for adding markers to your artistic practice. What Are Alcohol Markers? Alcohol markers are popular art and design markers where alcohol is the vehicle for the color, as opposed to water-based markers where water is the vehicle or xylene-based markers where xylene solvent is the vehicle. If it smells faintly like rubbing alcohol, it’s an alcohol-based marker and can be blended with other alcohol-based markers from different brands. Popular alcohol marker brands include Copic Classic Markers and Copic Sketch Markers, Prismacolor, Ohuhu, Arrtx, Arteza, and our own Koda Art Dual Tip Brush Markers and Sets. They’re easy to use for a wide range of subject matter and styles. The colors are vibrant and clear right off the bat and give great coverage. Because they offer rich results quickly, they’re a favorite of illustrators, manga artists, graphic designers, interior designers, landscape architects, fashion designers, architects, and artists. The transparency of these markers works similarly to watercolor in that colors can be layered to create darker values or optical color mixes, like yellow over blue makes green. Also similar to watercolor, the white of the paper plays a role in the light that comes from the background and through the colors, making them more vibrant and affecting the values. The inks are usually dye-based and therefore not fade-proof, so they’re best for design work where they will be scanned for their final iteration or for planning and sketching, but they’re not recommended for a final artwork for display. What Are the Pros and Cons of Alcohol Markers? Pros: Easy to layer with excellent blending capabilities. Come in a variety of tip sizes and shapes for a wide range of marking possibilities. Most have dual-ended tips, which give you multiple drawing style options in one marker. The colors are vivid and clear. Wide color ranges are available, from intense, highly saturated colors to muted, low-intensity colors. Even more colors can be created through layering. Wide value ranges are available from very light to very dark. Even more values can be created through layering. They allow for quick coverage, so you can cover more ground quickly compared to colored pencils or pens. Most brands smell only faintly of alcohol fumes compared to the dizzying xylene-based marker fumes. They can create hard edges between colors or softly blended transitions. They don’t smear when you’re working because they soak into the paper immediately and are quick-drying. Some brands are refillable and offer replaceable nibs, saving money and waste. Refills and nibs may be compatible between brands. They play well with other media, like pigmented ink pens, Chartpak AdMarkers, acrylic paint pens, and colored pencils. Cons: The inks are fade-resistant but not lightfast - meaning that eventually, they will fade. Best for design work that will be scanned for the final product instead of displayed artwork. You need a wide range of colors to get the best results, from light to dark in the same color family, so it can get expensive. Can be too quick-drying if you want to blend, so timing is important to manage. Not as forgiving if mistakes are made so advanced planning of the layers is a good idea. The ink bleeds through the paper, so thicker or marker-specific paper is required. There are bleed-proof shields you can use, or use an acetate sheet, or use bleed-proof paper like Crescent’s Rendr. Cannot be used on just any paper. The right paper must be used to avoid too much feathering or unintended dulling of the color. Some people can be sensitive to the alcohol fumes. What is the Best Paper for Alcohol Markers? Starting with the right paper is half the battle when using alcohol markers. For best results, look for papers specifically labeled for “Marker” or “Pen and Ink”, but smooth bristol board and smooth illustration board are also good. Heavyweight, smooth white paper that doesn’t bleed or feather is the best paper to use for alcohol markers. Feathering means that the ink spreads out from where you put it down, wicking through the fibers of the paper, which means you lack control over where the ink flows. What you want is a paper that’s balanced between bleeding too much and too little, allowing you the most control. Paper not designed for markers can dull the colors. For example, if you color the same marker on a sheet of printer paper vs a sheet of marker paper, you’ll see the color remains more vivid on the marker paper and isn’t quite as vibrant on the printer paper. You’re better off spending a bit more for better paper so your marker techniques will have more success. Each type of marker paper will react a little differently, so it’s important to do some test sketches so you can figure out how the paper will cause the ink to behave. You can discover its strengths and limitations and work those into your drawing process. You may choose a paper that blends easily for one project and another that leaves strong marks for another. Juicy alcohol markers bleed through paper easily, so you’ll want to use a heavier-weight paper or board. Cardstock, bristol board, and illustration boards are great options. There are some bleed-proof papers available, but they don’t tend to blend as well. Thicker paper is also sturdy enough to withstand the amount of layering and scrubbing of the surface that’s typically required. Thinner papers can disintegrate if repeatedly layered while wet. The smoother the paper, the better the results and the longer your nibs will last. If the paper’s tooth, or surface texture, is rough, it’s more difficult to create controlled lines and fine lines. Your nibs will also suffer and become less sharp as the fibers that make it up are roughened. Smooth paper is also best for scanning your art because surface texture shadows aren’t an issue. Bright white is the best color of paper to use with alcohol markers because it shows the colors at their truest and purest intensity. However, off-white paper or light-value toned papers offer interesting effects, such as a vintage look. You’ll just want to experiment with how the colored background affects the marker colors. Top Row from Left: vellum bristol board, Crescent Rendr, standard cardstock, hot press watercolor paper, Sketchmaker Drawing Pad. Bottom Row from Left: Crescent #310 Cold Press Illustration board, Borden and Riley #116 Drawing and Sketching Vellum, standard printer paper, Borden and Riley #234 Paris Paper for Pens, Koda Marker. Different Marker Tip Types Alcohol marker tips come in different shapes and sizes for various line weights and expressive character. How you apply different pressure on the nib also affects the line quality, so you can be really creative with this tool. Just like a pencil, lighter pressure produces lighter marks, while heavier pressure creates darker marks. Pressure variations when using a brush nib are where these markers really show their versatility. Spend some time testing the different mark-making capabilities of your marker nibs. Bullet TipsBullet tips are bullet-shaped and either slightly pointed or rounded at the end. They can be very fine or broad, but in general, they create consistent fine lines with little variation. They’re commonly used for outlining and laying out the general design before coloring, and for adding details. They’re also great for cross-hatching and adding texture. Different-sized bullet tips will offer thicker to thinner line weights, so having a couple of size options can be handy. Chisel TipsChisel tips are the widest nib type and have an angled edge for covering large areas quickly or drawing bold lines. You can create 3 different line weights with this one tip if you draw with the broad side left to right, the broad side straight down, or the tip alone. They tend to be very durable, so wear down less quickly than a fine bullet or brush tip. They’re also great for hand-lettering and calligraphy with their ability to change width depending on the stroke direction, just like a calligraphy nib. They can also be used for interesting gestural marks. Brush TipsThese tips look like round paint brushes and act in a similar way by creating marks similar to brush strokes. They’re flexible and respond easily to changes in pressure, achieving a fine line with light pressure and a thick line with increasing pressure. They’re the most versatile tip, great for coloring medium-sized areas, creating calligraphic lines, and blending, and they work well for both large and small areas. They’re a bit more fragile than the other tip shapes and can wear down over time. Avoid using too much pressure on the nib to color in a large area and switch to a chisel tip instead. Brush markers tend to lay down more ink, so if that’s not what you want for a particular area, switch to a bullet or chisel tip for less ink. Alcohol Marker Drawing Tips Markers are not considered a forgiving medium, which can make them intimidating. But they can be much more forgiving than you imagine with just a few basic tips. Sketch first in very light colors that can be covered by darker colors later. That way, if you sketch something you end up not liking, you can cover it up, and that light color will blend into subsequent layers. Save the whites of the paper for lighter passages. Draw around them instead of planning to lighten them later. Working from light values to dark values will give you the most latitude to make changes and adjustments as you go. Be aware that using a light color over a dark color can bleach it a little because the alcohol in the light color will dissolve what’s underneath somewhat. Working in layers is a huge part of successful marker art. The misconception is that you lay down one color at a time as if you’re coloring by number, but the truth is that there’s a great deal of layering going on. It can be a very organic expressive process. If you want areas to blend, work wet on wet. If you want them to layer, work wet on dry. Swatch out all your colors to see what they really look like. The marker cap colors are not always accurate and definitely won’t show you the value range available by layering a single marker over itself. In the initial stages, err on the side of less is more. That leaves you more leeway to make changes as you go. In other words, don’t fill in every detail or form right away. You can always add more later, but it’s harder to take away. Use some of the same colors or family of colors across the drawing to enhance unity in the color scheme. Use smaller tips for smaller areas and bigger tips for bigger ones. This will help avoid unwanted streaks and keep the ink from drying out too fast for you to blend effectively. If you make a mark with a color that’s not the value or shade you thought it would be, just go with the flow and add a little of it here and there to make it look like a deliberate choice rather than a mistake. Having many beautiful colors at your fingertips is fun and full of expressive possibilities, but you can get seduced by the color and forget the value. Relative lights and darks are how space is pulled forward and pushed back, and how a form shows its volume. Take the time to do some tests, swatch out your markers, and try different techniques where you can “mess up” without consequences. This is where the best learning is done, which will translate into better marker art. It can be helpful to print the same design on several sheets of paper as you approach it in different ways and see the possibilities. Also, having a little test swatch sheet of scrap paper by you while you work is handy to avoid surprises. Don’t get discouraged in the first stages. Things may look rough in the beginning before all the layering is done. Don’t give up! Keep going and you’ll see your design bloom as the surface becomes richer. Be sure to check out our blog post on alcohol marker blending techniques for more helpful tips and lots of visual examples. How to Store Alcohol Markers Store alcohol markers horizontally so the ink is evenly distributed in the spongy material inside, especially if the marker is double-ended. This keeps the markers from drying out on one end or from depositing too much ink on an oversaturated end. However, if you have a marker that’s getting dry on one end, you can store that marker vertically toward the end you want to use. After a little while, the available ink should seep into that side of the marker. Keep your markers in a dry space away from heat and out of direct sunlight. Keep your markers organized, and you’ll have an easier time making art with them. Organize your markers into color families. If you want to go further, organize them into values within that color family. Want to go further? Organize them from high intensity (bright) to low intensity (muted). This will make it much easier to see your options and compare them to each other in terms of hue, value, and intensity. Once your creative session is over, take the time to put the markers back in their rightful place so you’ll be ready to create when inspiration strikes next. If your markers become messy around the nib or barrel, use rubbing alcohol to clean them off. How to Revive Dried Alcohol Markers Art markers can be an investment, so you want to get the most out of them. If they start to dry out on you, you won’t be able to achieve all the special effects that require lots of juice. Or maybe you’re nearing the end of a drawing and just need a color to last a little longer so you can finish up. There are a couple of ways you can revive a dried alcohol marker. Some marker brands sell ink refills. Hold the marker tip upright at a 45-degree angle and add single drops of the refill ink onto the nib. Wait a second for the ink to absorb before adding more. You’ll see the nib go from shiny to dull. It could take 20 - 30 drops, depending on how dry the marker is. It’s best to underfill than overfill, where ink leaks out of the pen and creates a mess. Lay the pen horizontally for a few minutes to allow the ink to disperse evenly throughout the pen. If the nib is removable, you can carefully pull the nib out using your fingers or tweezers. Drop the ink directly into the hole left behind. Gently squeeze the ink refill to slowly add ink that can be absorbed. A little goes a long way, so don’t flood the marker. Start with less and only add more as needed. Carefully reinsert the nib and let the pen rest horizontally for a few minutes. You may want to avoid using this method on brush nibs since they’re more easily damaged compared to chisel or bullet nibs. Use the ink-drop method above instead. Don’t have ink refills? You can remove the nib as above and drop alcohol directly into the marker. Once the nib is reinserted, let the marker rest horizontally for several hours to evenly redistribute the ink. Left is before adding alcohol into the barrel, right is after. We hope this gives you the inspiration to incorporate these versatile creative tools into your artistic practice. We have everything you need to get started with alcohol markers, plus all kinds of other drawing pens and markers in the Art Markers and Marker Sets on our website. Artwork by Amanda Chapman, Cheap Joe’s Outlet Manager. Made with Alcohol Markers and Acrylic Paint Pens
What You Need to Know About Alcohol Markers
Have you ever looked at a display of hundreds of colorful markers and thought how fun they would be to use, but you weren’t sure where to begin? We’ve got...
5 Tips to Improve Your Observational Drawing Sk...
Observational drawing practice is about more than just making your drawing look like the subject; it’s about improving how well you see and practicing hand-eye coordination. Our eye can trick us into making many assumptions about what we see, leading to distortions, confusion, and frustration. For example, an object may seem taller than its width when it’s actually the opposite. Seeing in 3D with our two eyes stereoscopically but drawing 2D flat shapes on paper is essentially an abstraction. The practices outlined below help check our visual assumptions against the objective reality of the scene before us and allow us to see and draw that two-dimensional abstraction of reality more successfully. Your drawing will become more accurate, and your experience of drawing will be a more fulfilling enjoyment of seeing deeply. These techniques work for still life, landscape, figure, portraiture, and any other subject you’re translating from three dimensions to two dimensions, from the simplest still life to the most complex urban landscape. Experienced artists might use these skills without thinking about them but always need practice. For beginners or those who want to improve their existing observational drawings, consider these tips as training wheels for your eyes. The more you practice them, the more they’ll become second nature. Observational drawing is a valuable skill even if you don’t create realistic representational artwork. Keeping an ongoing drawing practice in your sketchbook will improve any art you make outside of it. Here are 5 techniques guaranteed to improve your drawings from life: Draw the Overall Shapes Before the Details The tendency is to get distracted by the details and dive into those first, but details should be considered the icing on the cake and one of the final stages because details need a solid structure to sit atop. That solid structure is the subject matter's overall shape, scale, and form.Start by positioning the entire scene within the limits of the page so you can include everything you want to include. Many times, we’re so interested in the main subject that we make it larger than it really is, pushing the rest of the scene off the page and compromising our composition. So, to get the correct scale-to-page size to begin with, lightly sketch in the main elements with simple blobs of approximate placement, always with an eye to how each form in the scene relates to the others. Your eye should be dancing back and forth across all the elements and the spaces between them rather than focusing on each element separately. This will ensure the best start to overall proportions. You don’t have to be perfectly accurate right off the bat. Once you have all the blobs in their approximate place, use the sighting techniques below to gradually correct each form's basic outer shapes, scale, volume, and relative placement. Your lines can become darker as you become more confident in the placement. This tweaking process will take several passes over the whole scene and page as you gradually zero in on the locations and outlines of each form. Enjoy the ride! Use Vertical Lines, Horizontal Lines, and Angled Sight Lines Imposing horizontal and vertical lines over the subject from your point of view will help position elements at the correct height and placement compared to each other. When learning this technique, a thin bamboo skewer or chopstick is a great tool. Having this dedicated ‘Sighting Stick’ encourages you to use it, but you can also use your pencil, pen, or brush handle. The point is to use a longish, thinnish, straight tool that you can impose over the scene but that does not block the scene’s elements. How to use Vertical Sight Lines: Holding the Sighting Stick vertically, like a plumb line, put one end on the edge of a form and see where another form falls to the left or right in relation to it. You will be surprised how your eye has tricked you! Holding the pencil vertically at the right-side edge of the vase helps to see how far out the belly of the vase falls compared to its base. The dotted red lines in the images below indicate areas where it would be helpful to use vertical lines. The circled areas indicate comparison points from top to bottom of the scene that will help you correctly locate and size objects in relation to each other. How to use Horizontal Sight Lines: By holding the Sighting Stick horizontally, you can put one end on the edge of a form and see where the tops and bottoms of other forms fall in relation to each other. Holding the pencil horizontally on the edge of the plate's base shows how much higher the vase's base sits on the table. The dotted red lines in the images below indicate areas where it would be helpful to use horizontal lines. The circled areas indicate comparison points from left to right of the scene that will help you correctly locate and size objects in relation to each other. How to use Angled Sight Lines: To find the angles between objects, which also helps find their placement relative to each other, hold the sighting stick at the angle that connects the points you’re trying to find. This works best when your arm is held straight out, not bent at the elbow. Imagine the stick is on a clock face or pane of glass and cannot be tilted toward or away from you. The idea is to keep the stick perpendicular to your line of site so you get the most accurate angle possible. Sighting an angle also helps you see the angle of a form by exaggerating it and showing it to your eyes more clearly. It then becomes easy for you to translate an angled edge to two dimensions. Holding the pencil at an angle on the curved edge of the vase shows the overall angle at which the bottom portion of it curves upwards. This makes a helpful guideline when sketching the curvature. The dotted red lines in the images below indicate areas where it would be helpful to use angled lines to see at what angle forms are in relation to each other, as well as the overall angle of individual elements. The great thing about sighting Vertical Lines, Horizontal Lines, and Angled Lines is that they’re helpful at any scale, from assessing the whole scene to measuring within individual forms. This technique also helps you clearly see the negative shapes, which can help draw the positive shapes. For example, the angle of a roof compared to 90 or 180 degrees, the amount a terracotta pot’s sides slope away from the rim, or how far out that arm the model is leaning on really reaches. Angled Lines even assist when you’re measuring a curve because you can lay the Sighting Stick along the main arc and more easily see the overall direction of the curve. Use the Negative Shapes to Find the Positive Shapes Negative shapes, often considered the background, are the spaces between the foreground subject. Negative space, however, is relative and depends on context. For example, the wall between a potted plant in the foreground is negative space, but so is the terracotta pot behind a plant leaf that’s further in the foreground. The red outline shows a negative space shape in the context of the pot and plant, where the wall between the stem and pot edge creates a shape. The red outline shows negative space shapes in the context of the shadow on the wall, where the wall areas not in shadow create shapes that can be useful for seeing more accurately. The red outline shows negative space shapes in the context of the pot behind the plant stem which can help place the foreground stem accurately. Our eyes are most easily tricked when we only draw the positive shapes without checking the corresponding negative space. Our brain is designed to focus on positive shapes instead of the spaces between them, but they are usually more complex to decode than the relatively simple negative shapes. This makes negative shapes far easier to see and visually measure, so they’re a useful tool in observational drawing as you hone in on more accurate placement of objects and form edges. Once you get used to looking for the negative space, you’ll never see the same way again! Sighting for Scale and Proportion Observational drawing is all about relativity, comparing one area of the subject to another to form a complete whole. Sighting is a way to visually measure the forms in the scene from your point of view and get them in the correct scale and proportion compared to each other and the whole. For this technique to work properly, use your Sighting Stick consistently at arm's length, with elbow unbent, so that the distance from your eye to the stick remains the same. You’ll also want to close one eye, the same eye each time, to eliminate the forms jumping back and forth between each eye’s vantage point, resulting in inconsistent measurements. Keep the stick perpendicular to your line of sight instead of angling it toward or away from you. Finally, keep the same point of view instead of moving left or right, up or down. Decide on your composition's best point of view and stick with it, or your comparisons will have no constancy. All your measuring will be done from this one point of view - not closer or farther away. It’s your source of truth!Once you have your composition and estimated placement blocked in with light blobs, choose one of the midsize to smaller elements as a ‘key.’ The idea is to use this element to measure the other elements and negative spaces against. It’s as if you’re creating your own 'inch'. This will help keep the entire scene in the correct relative proportion.Measure the relative width and height of the key form from your point of view. First, measure the shortest dimension from your point of view by holding your sighting stick’s tip up until it meets the edge of one side and placing your thumbnail at the point where the other side ends. Hold onto that place with your thumb and turn the stick perpendicular to how you just held it. Now, count roughly how many of the shortest dimension fits into the longest dimension. Is it about twice as high as it is wide? Or 1-1/2 times as wide as it is tall? Or maybe there’s no difference at all between the dimensions. Lightly draw in the measurement marks from top to bottom. At this point, you’re just creating a 'fence' to draw within. Don’t worry about the exact outline of the form yet.Now work from the general to the specific in the same key form, keeping within the 'fence' you’ve created to ensure you don’t enlarge or shrink it by accident. Use the same comparative measuring technique above to measure the next most general aspects of the form. For example, how much of the side or top can you see compared to the rest of the form? Is it about 1 part top to 2 parts side? Say there’s a vase that swells near the top and tapers to the bottom. You can see how far up that swell is compared to the tapering bottom and make light outlines to show you where that happens. You can also use a vertical sight line against the side of the swell to see what the negative shape of the tapered bottom looks like. Use vertical, horizontal, and angle sight lines to hone in on the form. Avoid putting in any detail until later in the drawing. After all, you may still need to make adjustments, and you’ll be reluctant to do that if you’ve already drawn in the details.Once you have the key aspects of the key form lightly in place, you can use it as a measuring gauge for the other forms in the scene. How many of the small vases high is the side of that larger bowl? How many of that key tree’s height fit in the space between it and the next tree over? Immaterial forms like shadows and seemingly empty space are forms, too, and can be measured similarly. Remember, this is approximate visual measuring to help your eyes see better - you don’t need to pull out a ruler or do math. Don’t get overwhelmed by exactitude, or it won’t be fun!As you lightly draw in the outlines of the major edges in the rest of the scene, you’ll be dancing back and forth between using vertical lines, horizontal lines, angle sight lines, and measuring. You’ll begin to understand which sight line will help you at the time as you solve each part of the puzzle. The goal is to work all over the entire drawing as you compare and contrast placement, angles, height, width, etc. Be willing to correct and erase during the process and open yourself up to change! There’ll be a point later on where you can pin down the style, expression, and amount of detail you want to include. Measuring the height of the vase with the eraser at the top edge of the pencil and the thumb marking the base edge. Keeping your thumb at the same spot on the pencil, measure the branch's height. The branch is a bit more than 2 vases high. Make this notational mark on your drawing. Measuring the width of the vase with the eraser at the left edge and the thumb marking the right edge at the widest point. Keeping your thumb at the same spot on the pencil, measure the plate's width. The plate is a little wider than the vase. Make this notational mark on your drawing. In this landscape, the height of the tree group in the middle ground makes a useful unit of comparison. Place the pencil eraser at the top of the tree group and your thumb at the bottom. Holding that measurement and comparing it to other areas of the scene both horizontally and vertically, you can see that the width of the tree group is 2 times its height, the highest field's width is only half the tree group's height, and the foreground fence is the same height as the tree group. You can mark these notations in your drawing and use them to keep all the elements in proportion to each other. Draw Through/Follow Through Observational drawing is a process of building from the general to the specific in overlapping layers. In the early stages of the drawing, use longer and lighter continuous and repetitive sketchy lines instead of short sketchy lines. There’s no need to pin down the exact location of a line at first with a dark and final mark - you’re just beginning to map the line, so keep it loose, light, and non-committal as you sketch and resketch back and forth to find the edges. The light repetitive sketching is an active part of the finding - seeing is not just happening in your eyes, but in your hand as well. Follow the lines through with your whole hand and wrist instead of just moving your fingers. Your wrist makes a great pivot point for curved lines. Following through with a line instead of starting and stopping will make your drawing look more confident and less stiff. Remember that if you start light, you can gradually increase the pressure and go darker as you hone the placement and accuracy of your forms. Relax, and don’t put too much pressure on yourself to get it right with the first stroke. Instead of stopping where one form goes behind another, picking up the line on the other side, draw each form as if it’s made of glass and can be seen through. This will help you understand how each whole form exists in the three-dimensional space as you translate it into two-dimensional space. This is especially helpful when drawing volumes like cylinders where ellipses, or circles in perspective, can get too football-shaped. It’s also beneficial with the angles found in buildings or tables. When you start with lighter lines, these see-through guidelines will fade into the background when you gradually draw darker as you get more accurate in the middle stages of the drawing. Draw objects as if you could see through them to gain a better understanding of the overall form and the forms in space. The techniques outlined above are not meant to dictate the level of expression, style, or energy in your drawing. They’re useful to help you see more thoroughly and accurately, but what you do with that visual information is entirely up to you. You’re the artist, the one who will take the information that’s out in the world and interpret it your way. These guidelines are meant to help you see better, not stifle your style with rigid rules. Use them as tools to help you reach your expression, not the dictator of truth that overrides your artistic vision. Whether or not you ever draw from life in the artwork you exhibit, you may enjoy this practice of honing your seeing skills, improving your hand-eye coordination, and engaging the creative problem-solving part of your mind. Your visual acuity will improve, and your ability to see more deeply will positively impact whatever type of artwork you make. You’ll find yourself visually measuring in your daily life as it becomes second nature!
5 Tips to Improve Your Observational Drawing Sk...
Observational drawing practice is about more than just making your drawing look like the subject; it’s about improving how well you see and practicing hand-eye coordination. Our eye can trick...
An Expert Guide to Calligraphy
Calligraphy is the art of writing decoratively and artistically, and it has been used for centuries to create everything from religious texts to artwork. It’s a form of handwriting that involves using a pen or brush to create beautifully stylized lettering – and it requires skill, patience, precision, and lots of practice! Seems kind of intimidating at first, right? But don’t worry; our amazing team of professional artists and teachers is here to help guide you through the process of mastering this beautiful art form. Whether you’re looking to improve your handwriting, create unique artwork, or simply enjoy the art of calligraphy, you can benefit from learning more about the craft! In this blog post, we’ll be sharing 6 helpful tips for mastering calligraphy, as well as discussing the importance of selecting the best calligraphy pens for your needs. Learning calligraphy is a process, but by implementing these tips while you’re practicing, you’ll be an expert in no time. Trust us – the results are well worth the effort. Let’s get started, so you can start creating! Tip 1: Choose the Right Pen As you can imagine, calligraphy pens are an essential tool for anyone interested in learning the art form. But what makes these pens different from regular ones? Well, calligraphy pens are specially designed to provide a smooth and even flow of ink, allowing for precise and controlled strokes. A good calligraphy pen can make all the difference in the quality of your work, so you can create beautiful letters and designs with ease. There are several important factors to consider when selecting a pen, and one of those is the nib type. The nib is the part of the pen that comes into contact with the paper. There are several types of nibs available, including round, chisel, and pointed nibs. Round nibs are great for beginners because they are easy to control and produce consistent lines. Chisel nibs are ideal for creating thick and thin strokes, while pointed nibs are perfect for creating fine lines and intricate designs. The nib you end up choosing will depend on your technique and the results you’d like to achieve. Another essential factor for calligraphy pens is their ink flow. A pen with a consistent ink flow will produce smoother and more stable lines. If you’re using a pen with a variable ink flow, you may end up with irregular lines or blotches. Not good when you’re trying to master the art of beautiful handwriting, right? No matter which pen you choose, you’ll want to make sure it has a smooth, steady ink flow, so you can create the gorgeous calligraphy of your dreams. The last aspect we recommend you consider is the comfort of the pen. Pens that are too heavy or too light may cause hand fatigue or cramping, which is the last thing you want in this situation. Pens with a comfortable grip and balanced weight distribution are ideal for extended use. Since calligraphy requires many hours of practice to master, it’s important that you choose a pen that’s designed for prolonged use. Now that we’ve explained the key factors to watch for, let’s look at the different types of calligraphy pens. There are a wide variety of options to choose from, each with its own unique features and benefits. Some of the most popular types include dip pens, fountain pens, and brush pens. Let’s review each of these choices: Dip PensDip pens are one of the oldest and most traditional types of pens used for this art form. They consist of a holder and a nib, which is dipped into ink before each use. Dip pens are highly customizable, as you can choose from a variety of nibs with different shapes and sizes to create a range of strokes and styles. Fountain PensFountain pens are another popular option for calligraphy. They are similar to dip pens in that they use a nib to apply ink to the paper, but they have a built-in reservoir of ink that eliminates the need to constantly dip the pen into an inkwell. Fountain pens are easy to use and provide a consistent flow of ink, making them a great choice for beginners. Brush PensBrush pens are a newer type of calligraphy pen that has gained popularity in recent years. They are similar to traditional paintbrushes, but with a narrow tip that allows for precise control. Brush pens are great for creating bold, expressive strokes, and are often used for modern calligraphy styles. Calligraphy Pens for Beginners and Professionals As you can see, there are a wide variety of calligraphy pens available, and each option has its own benefits. Ultimately, the pen you choose will depend on your skill level and personal preference. For beginners, we recommend starting with fountain pens to get the hang of the lettering process. Once you’ve had some practice, you can move on to working with dip pens and brush pens. For those who already understand the basics of calligraphy, continue experimenting with different types of pens until you find the one that works best for you! Understanding the difference between calligraphy pen types is one thing, but shopping for them is a whole other process. Luckily, we do have a few recommendations for some of the top calligraphy pens on the market. If you need some guidance, you can’t go wrong with any of these options. Whether you’re a beginner or a professional, these pens are a great choice! Pilot Parallel Calligraphy PensThe Pilot Parallel Calligraphy Pen is a popular choice for beginners and professionals alike. It features a chisel nib that can create thick and thin strokes with ease. The pen also has a convenient ink cartridge system that makes refilling easy. Tombow Fudenosuke Brush PenThe Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen is an excellent choice for creating fine lines and delicate designs. The pen has a flexible brush tip that can produce thin or thick lines depending on the pressure applied. The ink is water-based and does not bleed or smudge. Manuscript Classic Calligraphy SetThe Manuscript Classic Calligraphy Set is a comprehensive set that includes everything you need to get started with calligraphy. The set includes three nibs of varying sizes, a pen holder, and four ink cartridges, and comes in a convenient storage tin. (We do not currently carry this product.) Lamy Safari Fountain PenThe Lamy Safari Fountain Pen is a great choice for calligraphers who prefer a fountain pen. The pen has a medium nib that produces smooth and consistent lines. The pen is also comfortable to hold and features a convenient ink cartridge system. (We do not currently carry this product.) Tip 2: Practice Regularly Our second tip for mastering calligraphy is to practice regularly. Calligraphy requires patience and accuracy, so it's important to set aside time each day to practice your lettering. The benefits of regular practice go beyond improving your writing skills – it can also provide a sense of relaxation and mindfulness! Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced calligrapher, frequent practice is key to improving your skills and enjoying the benefits of this timeless art form. Practicing regularly allows you to develop muscle memory, which makes it easier to produce consistent strokes and shapes. The more you practice, the more natural and effortless your writing will become. Regular practice can also help you develop a personal style, as it allows you to experiment with techniques to find the one that reflects your personality and artistic vision. Another benefit to regular practice is enhanced creativity. Calligraphy is a creative art form that allows you to express yourself through your writing. Regular practice can help you develop your creativity by encouraging you to experiment with new styles, colors, and techniques. It can also help you to improve your visual problem-solving skills, which can be applied to other areas of your life. Additionally, practicing calligraphy can be a relaxing and meditative practice, which can help to reduce stress and anxiety. The repetitive motion of writing can be soothing, and the focus required to produce each stroke can help to clear your mind and reduce mental clutter. Tip 3: Start with The Basics Before diving into complex lettering and designs, it's important to learn the basics of calligraphy, such as proper grip and posture. Understanding these fundamentals is essential for developing good techniques and achieving consistent, high-quality results in your work. Calligraphy is all about precision and accuracy, and proper grip and posture can help you achieve that. Holding the pen correctly and sitting with good posture allows you to produce consistent strokes and shapes, which is key to achieving the clean, polished look that calligraphy is known for. Calligraphy can also be a physically demanding art form, and this is especially true if you're not using the right grip or posture. Having poor grip can cause strain on your fingers and hand, leading to fatigue and discomfort. Good posture can help you maintain a comfortable, relaxed position, reducing the risk of muscle strain or injury. Conquering the basics of calligraphy is like building a strong foundation for your art. Once you have a solid understanding of the fundamentals, you can build on that knowledge to explore more advanced techniques and styles. Without a solid foundation, you may struggle to achieve the results you're looking for, no matter how advanced your techniques may be. Tip 4: Use Guidelines Guidelines are an essential tool for calligraphers, as they help to ensure consistent lettering size, spacing, and alignment. There are many types of guidelines available, including pre-printed paper, guide sheets, and rulers. Choose the type that works best for you and your practice by considering the size and spacing of the letters you want to create. Select guidelines that are appropriate for the size of your letters, and make sure the spacing between each line is consistent. When working with guidelines, it's important to use a light touch when marking your paper. Heavy pressure can leave indents or grooves on your paper, which can affect the quality of your work. Use a pencil or light pen to mark your guidelines and be gentle when applying pressure. If you're creating straight lines, use a ruler to ensure that they are even and consistent. A ruler can also help you create parallel lines, which is important for certain calligraphy styles. While guidelines are an important tool for calligraphy, they should be used as a guide rather than a strict rule. Don't be afraid to experiment with different letter sizes, spacing, and alignment, and use your judgment to determine what looks best. Just don’t forget to remove the guidelines when you’re finished with your calligraphy! Use an eraser to carefully remove any visible lines, taking care not to damage your paper or linework by using a light touch and erasing gently. Tip 5: Experiment with Different Styles There are many different calligraphy styles to choose from, so don't be afraid to experiment and find the one that works best for you. Trying out various styles is one of the most vital parts of developing your skills and creating unique, personalized pieces, as it helps you become a more versatile calligrapher. Each style has its unique challenges and techniques, so practicing different styles can help you to master different strokes, shapes, and letterforms. As you experiment, you'll build up a portfolio of work that showcases your skills and creativity. This portfolio can be an important tool for attracting clients, applying for jobs or internships, or showcasing your work to potential collaborators. By trying different styles, you'll begin to develop your unique calligraphy voice. You may find that you're drawn to certain styles or techniques, or that you're naturally talented in a particular area. By exploring different varieties, you'll begin to develop your sense of style and aesthetic. Trying new things is an important part of expanding your creativity and developing new ideas. By experimenting with different calligraphy styles, you'll be able to explore new ideas and techniques and find inspiration in unexpected places. Tip 6: Study the Work of Other Calligraphers Studying the work of other calligraphers can help you learn new techniques and gain inspiration for your own work. By studying the work of other calligraphers, you can learn new techniques and approaches that you may not have discovered on your own. You may find new ways of holding your pen, creating certain strokes, or using different tools or materials. By analyzing the work of other calligraphers, you can improve your skills and refine your techniques. You may notice areas where you can improve your letter spacing, consistency, or line weight, or identify new ways of creating certain letterforms or flourishes. The work of other calligraphers can also be a great source of inspiration for your work. You may be inspired by the way they use color, texture, or layout, or by their style and approach to lettering. By observing the work of other calligraphers, you can begin developing your own ideas and creative vision. Studying other calligraphers’ work can help you build your understanding of different calligraphy styles and traditions. You may learn about historical calligraphers, regional styles, or contemporary trends that can inform your work and provide context for your practice. Observing the work of other calligraphers can also be a great way to connect with other members of the calligraphy community. You may discover new artists to follow, find mentors or collaborators, or connect with other calligraphers through workshops or online forums. Calligraphy is a beautiful and rewarding art form that requires patience, practice, and the right tools. By selecting the best calligraphy pen for your needs and following these tips for mastering calligraphy, you can create beautiful letters and designs that are sure to impress. So why not invest in a good calligraphy pen today and start honing your skills? Check out the complete collection of calligraphy pens from Cheap Joe’s today, either online or in-store. We can’t wait to see what you create!
An Expert Guide to Calligraphy
Calligraphy is the art of writing decoratively and artistically, and it has been used for centuries to create everything from religious texts to artwork. It’s a form of handwriting that...
10 Essential Tips for Mastering Watercolor Pain...
Welcome to the world of watercolor painting! As a professional artists and experienced teachers, we are here to give you 10 essential tips for mastering this beautiful medium. Whether you are just beginning your journey with watercolors or have been exploring its depths for years, these guidelines will help take your artistry to the next level. Watercolor painting can be intimidating at first glance – there are so many techniques, materials, and ways of working that it might seem overwhelming! But don't worry. By following our expert advice, you'll quickly get up-to-speed on all the basics needed to create stunning works of art with watercolor paints. We'll provide step-by-step instructions on how to choose supplies wisely, mix colors confidently, layer washes effectively, blend seamlessly, and more. With practice and patience, soon enough you'll feel like a watercolor master! After reading our 10 essential tips for mastering watercolor painting, you'll be ready to start creating some breathtaking artwork of your own. So, grab your brush and let's dive in! Experiment With Different Types Of Watercolor Paper Watercolor painting experts can't stress enough the importance of experimenting with different types of watercolor paper. It's crucial to understanding which paper works best for various techniques and styles. Everyone has their preferences, but there are so many types available that it pays to try them out! When choosing your paper, consider weight (thickness), texture, and absorbency as these all influence how the paint moves and dries. Paper quality seems unimportant, but it's one of the top factors that will contribute to your success or lack thereof, so it's worth getting right. We always recommend starting by experimenting with two or three varieties at first. You could start with something textured like cold-pressed paper followed by a smoother hot-pressed option - this will give you a good range in terms of texture. After that, try moving on to specialty papers such as rough, handmade, or even rice paper! Each of these will produce unique results, so don't be afraid to experiment until you find what works best for you. There are also differences between brands, so try several until you find the one that fits your style. Cheap Joe’s Sample Packs are a great tool for finding just the right paper for you. No matter what type of watercolor paper you decide to try, we recommend using archival quality, so your artwork stands the test of time. Choosing acid-free paper also helps protect against fading over time due to exposure to sunlight or other elements. With careful thought and experimentation, you’ll discover the best watercolor paper to bring out the beauty in your work. Choose The Right Paintbrushes For Your Technique After you've experimented with different types of watercolor paper, it's time to choose the right paintbrushes for your technique. When selecting watercolor brushes, there are several brush types, sizes, and shapes to consider. First, let’s look at the different kinds of bristles available. You want bristles that can hold a lot of color and water, and that are soft but spring back into shape. Watercolor brushes come in a variety of sizes and shapes such as extra small to large rounds, flats, washes, riggers, ovals, and more. natural-haired brushes made from animal fur hair typically hold the most color and tend to me more expensive. Synthetic brushes are more durable than natural-haired brushes because they can hold their shape better over time - perfect for those looking for longevity out of their supplies. There are many synthetic brushes on the market that closely mimic the absorption of natural hair brushes but at a lower cost. Next, think about the size of the brush you need depending on what type of painting style you prefer. For very detailed work, smaller-sized brushes are best as they allow for more control when adding details like grass blades or facial features. On the other hand, larger-sized brushes make covering large areas faster and easier; which is great if you want to try out abstract art or loose florals! Lastly, don't forget about angled and fan brush shapes which help create interesting lines and textures when layering colors together. Due to the fluid nature of watercolor, you can get lots of different sizes and styles of marks out of every brush shape, so spend some time experimenting with what each brush can do before you start painting. Invest some time into researching quality brands so that your artwork looks its best! View our collections of watercolor brush sets and watercolor brushes for a broad selection from brands we use. From our own experience, taking time to find the perfect set of tools is well worth it in the end. The last thing any painter wants is an uneven wash due to a poorly crafted brush. Practice with a simple, balanced color palette Too many color choices can sometimes lead to confusion and “mud.” Technically, you only need the 3 primary colors - red, yellow, and blue - to mix any color you can imagine. But it’s useful to have a warm and a cool version of each of the primaries for a total of 6 colors. Limiting your palette helps you understand the mechanics of color mixing in terms of hue, intensity, value, and temperature. Spend some time trying to match the hues out your window or in a photograph. Ask yourself some questions as you zero in on the color: Does the color fall generally into a red, yellow, or blue category? Start with a puddle of its main primary. Is the color in light or shade? Areas in light tend to be warmer (warm yellow and warm red) and lighter in value. Shade will be darker in value and more muted with a complement. Is the color near or far? The further away, the less yellow and red it will have in it and the more blue it will be. Distance also reduces light-dark contrast while close-up areas have higher contrast. Is the color vibrant or muted? Vibrant colors will stay closer to pure tube colors while muted colors will have more of their complement mixed in to tone them down by degrees. Is the color warmer or cooler than the surrounding colors? For cooler colors, you’ll choose your cool primaries, for warm colors, your warm primaries. Is the color darker or lighter than it’s nearby neighbors? More water will lighten a color, less water and multiple layers can darken a color. Remember that with watercolor, you can alter a color not only by mixing it on your palette, but also by glazing transparent layers over each other. Practice mixing colors using both methods. Practice Layering And Building Up Color Gradually True mastery of watercolor painting is all about layering and building up your colors gradually. Layering and gradually building color in your paintings can take a bit of practice, but once you get the hang of it, you'll be able to create some stunningly beautiful works of art! Here are three additional tips for mastering this technique: Have patience - It takes time to learn the ins and outs of watercolor layering. Don't rush yourself; just enjoy the process as much as possible. Experiment with different techniques - There are plenty of ways to layer paint on paper or canvas. Try out a few until you find what works best for you. For example, try layering wet color over dry color, wet over wet, or dry over wet, complementary colors over each other vs. analogous colors over each other, etc. Practice makes perfect - Repetition is key when learning any new skill. Spend time every day practicing how to build up color slowly and evenly to make your work more vibrant, dynamic, and full of life! With enough practice and dedication, you'll become proficient in layering and building up watercolor in no time. Learn How To Control The Amount Of Water In Your Paint Carrying a brush full of water can be like carrying liquid gold in the world of watercolor painting. Controlling how much water you use is key to mastering this art form and creating stunning pieces. Knowing how to control the amount of water in your paint will help you create smooth, even layers for magnificent results! After experimenting with different types of watercolor paper, you may have noticed that it comes in different weights and textures which affect how it absorbs pigment and holds up while being painted on. Add just enough water to your paper to show a shimmer but not pools and not dry areas. Too much water in your brush will create pools that will likely dry with hard edges where the pigment settled. Too little water in your brush can be too streaky. Experiment with different amounts of water both on the paper and the brush until you find that ‘sweet spot.’ You can always remove too much water with a paper towel or a dry brush that can wick away moisture. Remember, there are no hard and fast rules! The key is control so that if you want streaky, you get streaky, if you want smooth you get smooth. Water control is a constant dance with lots of depending factors, so just play and have fun while you explore! Use Masking Fluid To Preserve White Areas Masking fluid is a must-have for any watercolor artist. It’s an invaluable tool that helps to preserve those hard-to-recapture white areas of your painting. It allows you to achieve greater detail without having to rely solely on the careful application of paint washes and layers - giving you more freedom to experiment with color combinations and values throughout your piece. So get creative, but remember - safety first! Here are four tips we can offer when working with masking fluid: Use an inexpensive brush dedicated to masking fluid because it can destroy brushes. Make sure you have plenty of ventilation in your studio as the fumes can be quite strong when using certain types of masking fluid. For large areas, use a wide, flat brush for even coverage and make sure it’s completely clean before dipping into the container of masking fluid. Remove the dried masking fluid after you complete your painting by rubbing gently with a rubber eraser until it pulls off easily. Following these recommendations from watercolor experts will give you better control over those tricky white spaces in your work! Use Salt Or Rubbing Alcohol To Create Interesting Textures Once you have experience using masking fluid to preserve white areas in your watercolor paintings, it's time to explore other methods for adding interesting textures. Salt can be sprinkled on wet paint and will soak up some of the colors, resulting in a crystalized effect. This method works great for creating landscape scenes with sparkly snow-capped mountains or moonlit night skies. Just remember not to use too much salt as this can make your painting look overly grainy. Rubbing alcohol creates an even more dramatic effect than salt when added to wet paint. When it is dripped on, colors separate and form beautiful blooms reminiscent of flowers or galaxies far far away. Test this method out with different amounts of drops and colors to get just the right look for your art. Don't Be Afraid To Mix Colors To Create Unique Shades When it comes to watercolor painting, mixing colors is essential. Don't be scared of the color combinations you create; rather, embrace them and use them to your advantage! Every shade has its own unique beauty that cannot be replicated by any other hue. The key to creating truly unique shades lies in understanding how different colors blend together. It's important to experiment with various combinations and get an idea of what works best for you. Start off by using just two or three colors at first, then add more as needed until you find the perfect mix. You can also try adding a few drops of one color onto another to see how they interact – this will give you insight into which colors work well together and which don’t. Spend some time just playing with mixtures in your sketchbook to learn the behavior and potential uses for each color. (Don’t forget to take notes because you will definitely forget how you made that perfect green!) Once you master basic color mixing techniques, try combining several different hues for even more variations! Consider complementary opposites like blue-orange or red-green and play around with contrasting tints like bright yellow against dark gray, or experiment with analogous tones like light pink alongside pastel violet. With practice and patience, you'll soon master the art of producing eye-catching shades AND COMBINATIONS that nobody else has seen before! Use Different Brush Strokes To Create Variety In Your Painting When it comes to watercolor painting, mastering brush strokes is essential. There are a variety of brushstroke textures and types you can use to create interesting effects in your work. It's important to truly understand the different techniques used for different brushstrokes so that you can get the desired effect from each one. One key technique is varying pressure when making brushstrokes. You will want to apply light pressure on certain areas while bearing down more firmly on others as needed. This will help give your artwork depth and dimension by highlighting some parts over others. Additionally, you'll need to be aware of the direction in which you're stroking - long smooth horizontal or vertical lines versus short jagged ones for example - as this will also produce varying results in terms of texture and feel. Another way to add visual interest is by using the fourth tip we mentioned earlier: through layering colors using multiple layers of paint and building up gradually until reaching the shade you desire. As you layer color, you can also experiment with various shapes such as circles, wavy lines, zigzags, or any other type of patterning; these details will add life and movement to your paintings! Over time, you’ll develop an instinctive understanding of what works best for achieving particular styles or outcomes within a piece. In summary, learning how to vary your brush strokes and build up layers of color is vital in creating visually appealing watercolor paintings full of dynamic, distinctive detail. By practicing different brush stroke techniques and experimenting with various patterns, textures, and shades, you’ll soon become adept at crafting unique pieces that stand out from the rest! Learn How To Lift Color And Make Corrections As You Paint Amazingly, the ability to lift color and make corrections as you paint is one of the most crucial elements in mastering watercolor painting. This skill can help you add depth to your paintings and take them from beginner-level to masterful works of art! Keep these four methods in mind for your next watercolor: Get an old toothbrush or a small stiff brush for lifting color off your paper. Use a damp sponge or cloth to gently blot up any excess moisture. Dip your brush into the CLEAN rinse water before lifting out any unwanted color on the page. Be sure not to press too hard when scrubbing so that you don't damage your paper! When it comes to making corrections while painting with watercolors, timing is key! It’s best if you catch mistakes right away because once the pigment has dried, it’s virtually impossible to fix without creating more problems down the line. Therefore, we always recommend keeping some clean water nearby when working with this medium so you can quickly wet a brush and correct any errors immediately after they occur - no matter how small they may be! The moral of this post is to play and experiment before you try to create a painting. Get to know your materials and you won’t be fighting with them! Becoming a watercolor master takes time, practice, and patience. With these 10 essential tips in your toolkit, you will be able to bring your paintings to life with vibrant colors, intricate details, and captivating textures. Through experimenting with different types of paper, carefully selecting paintbrushes for each technique, experimenting with layering and building up the color gradually, and mixing unique shades, you’ll find yourself creating colorful landscapes PAINTINGS that move beyond what was YOU ever thought possible. You’ll learn how to control the amount of water used in your paints and use salt or rubbing alcohol to create interesting textures. And when mistakes happen – don't worry! You'll also learn how to lift color so corrections are never too difficult. Once you become comfortable using these techniques, adding subtle yet powerful touches will come naturally, allowing you to create truly stunning pieces that are unique and captivating in their own way. With this knowledge at hand, achieving mastery in watercolor painting becomes incredibly achievable! So, take your time and enjoy the process! Before long, you’ll have created beautiful masterpieces that will bring a smile of satisfaction to anyone who beholds them. Need Supplies? Visit Cheap Joe’s online or in-store today!
10 Essential Tips for Mastering Watercolor Pain...
Welcome to the world of watercolor painting! As a professional artists and experienced teachers, we are here to give you 10 essential tips for mastering this beautiful medium. Whether you...
The Truth About Watercolor Tubes vs. Pans
It is not uncommon when new artists are budding and trying to learn all they can that they turn to friends and classmates for advice on all things related to art and art supplies. What is the best watercolor paper to use? What is the highest quality artist paint brushes should you choose? Am I ready for an artist easel yet? Sadly, however, some information that is afloat amongst many students in just rumor and supposition can prove to be more of a detriment than of help. Even, on occasion some art professionals find themselves misunderstanding their own artist materials. Especially in the case of many artists’ understandings regarding watercolor pans. How Watercolors Are Made One of the first things that beginners learn in their art lessons is that watercolor is essentially a two-part suspension of pigment and a binder. The binder that is most often used for artist watercolors is gum arabic. These two basic parts are combined in varying ratios to form watercolor paints as we know them. The higher the concentration of pigment in those paints, the more potent the color and coverage will be out of the tube and in your watercolor painting. After the pigments are milled together with the binder, they are usually placed into a tube. Watercolors in a tube are the format with which most artists are familiar. But watercolors can be accessible in other formats as well that are just as high quality and performance as that of a tube, whether it is a watercolor pencil, watercolor crayons, liquid watercolors, or even that of watercolor pans. Many artists who are new to watercolor may have only a passing familiarity with watercolor in this other format, watercolor pans. Far fewer artists are aware of how they are made, which leads to unhelpful misinformation that makes the process of watercolor painting even more confusing. So many new artists hear a misguided rumor about watercolor pans being of a lower quality compared to watercolor paints in a tube. Artists are led to believe that pans have lower amounts of pigment which would then result in less concentrated color and brilliance. This could not be more false. In fact, watercolor pans are made from the exact watercolor that is milled and put into tubes. Watercolor pans are actually tube paint that is manufactured by allowing the paint to air dry and then cut into small cubes. Therefore, any watercolor pan is the exact same quality as it would be if an artist put their tube watercolors in their watercolor palette to dry. Only a spritz of water is needed to activate watercolors in a palette or a pan. Armed with this information, it can make artists wiser shoppers when choosing just the right art supplies to suit their preference and situation. Knowing exactly what your art materials are made from and how they came to be can make all the difference in an artists’ journey as well as their enjoyment of the process. Information is power in all things, even in matters of a tiny watercolor pan
The Truth About Watercolor Tubes vs. Pans
It is not uncommon when new artists are budding and trying to learn all they can that they turn to friends and classmates for advice on all things related to...
Your Guide To Using Calligraphy Pens
Like any art form, calligraphy takes quite a bit of time and practice to master. Choosing the right tools and supplies is vital to your success, but checking out some art lessons can be just as important. At Cheap Joe’s, we’re always thrilled to share our expertise with our community, and we would love to be part of your journey to developing your skills. Getting Started with Calligraphy You can think of this post as a mini art lesson – today’s topic is using calligraphy pens for hand lettering. We included step by step instructions to help get you started. Step 1: Choose A Calligraphy Pen There are four types of pens that are most commonly used by calligraphy artists: felt tip pens, fountain pens, dip pens, and brush pens. It’s important to understand the differences between each pen, as they all use different types of ink. The pen you choose to use will depend on a few factors: what style of lettering you want to make, what kind of ink you prefer, how it fits in your hand, and if you’re comfortable writing with it. Let’s walk through the four types of pens in more detail: Felt tip pens: These pens are a great choice for beginners because they're easy to use, relatively inexpensive, and come in a wide range of colors and nib shapes. With felt tip pens, you don't have to prepare the ink before you use them, which makes them good for practicing lettering. However, once you get past the beginners' stage, you'll probably want to choose a higher-quality pen. Felt tip pens can run out of ink quickly and the nibs wear down over time. Fountain pens: These pens are often used by intermediate or advanced calligraphers. The ink flow takes a bit of getting used to, so they take a bit of practice. Fountain pens feature changeable ink cartridges and metal nibs - the ink is fed into the nib and then onto the page through the nib. The cartridges can be replaced when empty or changed out for a different color. Dip pens: These pens are usually used by advanced calligraphers, but they can be used by anyone who has the patience and time to practice with them. Dip pens have two parts: a nib holder/shaft and a nib. Nibs can easily be changed out and come in a wide range of point sizes and shapes for creating all manner of lettering. The ink is supplied separately by dipping the nib into a bottle of ink, so you have to replenish the ink frequently. Brush pens: These pens feature a thin round brush head for a nib, made of natural hair or synthetic bristles. The bristles are typically stiffer and come to a sharp point to allow for good control over the lines they're creating. These pens can get messy, so they aren't easy for beginners to master, but they can produce very expressive results with changes in pressure and direction. The artist simply has to learn how to control the brush, as it requires a different technique than a pen with a nib. Felt Tip Pens Fountain Pens Dip Pens Brush Pens Step 2: Put Ink In The Pen If you’re going to be using a dip pen or a brush pen, don’t forget to purchase some calligraphy ink. If you chose to use a fountain pen, it should come with ink cartridges and nibs already. Before you can use your pens, you’ll need to insert the ink. If you’re using a fountain pen, it usually consists of three parts: the cap, the nib, and the barrel. You’ll want to load the ink cartridge into the nib. Start by removing the cap and barrel from the nib, then insert the cartridge by pushing it onto the non-pointed side of the nib. You should hear a click when it attaches properly. If you’re using a dip pen or brush pen, use an eyedropper to put ink in the reservoir you'll dip your pen into, or many calligraphy inks come in a bottle that you can dip straight into. Step 3: Choose Your Paper It’s important that you use fountain pen paper for calligraphy, rather than standard office paper. Regular, low-quality paper is very thin, so if you attempt to practice your lettering on it, the ink will probably bleed all over the paper. You can find fountain pen paper at your local craft store. However, you don’t have to use the highest-quality paper if you’re just starting out and need to spend time practicing your lettering. A heavier printer paper can work for practicing purposes. Lined paper can also be beneficial for practicing basic strokes. Step 4: Practice Basic Linework Getting the hang of basic linework is key before attempting full lettering. You want to make sure you’re working on a stable writing surface, and if you’re using dip pens or brush pens, a sloped surface (easel, angled writing desk) will give you even better results. You’ll also want to secure the paper to the writing surface using tape or paper clips, so it stays flat and in place. Once everything is secure, it’s time to begin the process. Here are some basic strokes to practice: Downward stroke: With a flat-tipped nib, hold your pen tip edge so it is horizontal to the top writing line (if you’re using lined practice paper). This is called a zero-degree nib angle. Proceed to make a vertical downward stroke on the paper, keeping the nib flat on the paper as you go. Practice applying equal pressure as you make the stroke. Once you’re done, you’ll have demonstrated the thickest downstroke you can achieve with your pen. To get the thinnest stroke possible, pull the pen horizontally across the paper, moving from left to right. Using thick downward strokes and thin horizontal strokes, draw some small squares. This technique will help you learn how much pressure is required to make various-sized strokes with your pen. Make sure you’re using your arm to write with the pen, rather than your wrist. This will help you maintain a steady flow. Upward stroke: To create this stroke with a flat-tipped nib, adjust your pen tip edge so you’re holding it at a forty-five-degree angle. (Using the boxes you’ve created as a guide, cut one side of the box in half diagonally from bottom left to top right and place your nib parallel to the diagonal line. That will be 45 degrees.) Now you can begin making upward strokes at a forty-five-degree angle, starting at the bottom line of your practice paper. When creating upward strokes with brush pens, the more pressure you apply, the thicker your strokes will be. Practice applying various amounts of pressure to make strokes that vary in thickness smoothly. This will become muscle memory the more you practice and you'll see improvements over time. Sawtooth pattern: To practice angling the pen, use the lines on the paper to create a wave pattern, keeping your pen at the same forty-five-degree angle as before. Alternate back and forth between thin diagonal upstrokes and thick vertical downstrokes, which should result in a sawtooth-like pattern. Depending on whether you're using a flat-tipped nib, a brush pen, or a fine tip nib, you will see more or less variation between the upstrokes and downstrokes. Just play around and see what all the pen can do! This will get you familiar enough with each pen's characteristics so you can be creative. 0 degree Nib Angle 45 degree Nib Angle Square Practice Strokes Sawtooth Practice Strokes Step 5: Practice Lettering and Writing Styles Once you’ve spent some time working on basic linework, you can move on to working with actual letters. There are numerous calligraphy lettering practice sheets available online that you can print, which can help you get used to the movements needed for each letter and style. As a beginner, you’ll want to focus on getting these basic techniques down first. Once you master them, you can move on to creating your unique calligraphy pieces. Calligraphy Art Lessons We hope this little calligraphy art lesson was helpful for anyone looking to get started with hand lettering. For more mini lessons and recommendations, check out other posts like 6 Tips for Mastering Calligraphy and watch videos on Cheap Joe's Art Stuff - YouTube. We’re always updating our page with new videos from artists and experts!
Your Guide To Using Calligraphy Pens
Like any art form, calligraphy takes quite a bit of time and practice to master. Choosing the right tools and supplies is vital to your success, but checking out some...
Using Colored Pencils For Beginners
Ready for another one of our mini art lessons? Today we will be covering one of today’s most popular coloring mediums: colored pencils. These pencils are preferred by artists of all ages because they’re easy to use and relatively inexpensive. Many people also love the nostalgic feeling that they get when working with these pencils, as it reminds them of coloring as a child. However, that’s not to say that colored pencil techniques are juvenile – there are a wide variety of ways you can use these versatile tools. Whether you’re a beginner looking for a new hobby or an advanced artist, learning to work with a colored pencil properly can be a game-changer. Colored Pencil Tips For Beginners We try to make our art lessons beginner-friendly, so we’re going to focus on sharing the fundamental instructions for using these pencils. There are plenty of additional techniques you can adopt at a more advanced level, but we’re sticking to the basics today. Step 1: Sharpening The Pencils Making sure your pencils are properly sharpened is extremely important. Having sharp pencils helps you maintain light pressure while you’re coloring your base layer since you don’t have to press down as hard. This also helps you avoid breaking the tips of your pencils. To sharpen them, you have to consider their components. You shouldn’t use a regular pencil sharpener, since a colored pencil has a core made of clay, wax, or oil-based materials. This affects how you sharpen them, and what kind of sharpener you should use. Let’s take a look at two types of pencils: Soft pencils: These pencils are made of clay or wax, and they’re best for producing deep colors and blending shades. However, they’re also very fragile and can break easily if you aren’t careful. When you’re sharpening soft pencils, it’s recommended that you use a handheld sharpener. Once you stick the pencil inside the sharpener, it’s best to sharpen it by turning the sharpener and keeping the pencil still. Hard pencils: These pencils are typically made of some kind of oil-based material, which makes them more similar to traditional lead-core pencils. They’re quite tough, so they can be sharpened with electric sharpeners or even artist’s knives if you prefer. Step 2: Understanding Basic Pencil Strokes Now that your pencils are nice and sharp, it’s time to start working on your strokes. While there are many different techniques you can apply, there are three basic strokes you’ll want to master: straight strokes, circular strokes, and tapping. Straight strokes: This is the stroke that most people are already familiar with. It’s also known as the “line,” because you’re repeatedly drawing them. You continue to add lines, placing them as close together as possible so they don’t look like separate strokes, but rather one mass of color. This technique is often used to create the base layer of a piece, and there are a few variations that you can try out if you’d like. They are: Hatching – drawing lines side by side, either close together or far apartCrosshatching – drawing overlapping lines in opposite directionsBack and forth – coloring in a continuous back-and-forth motion [LABELED EXAMPLE PICS] Circular strokes: You can achieve this stroke by continuously drawing small or large circles, making sure they stay connected until you’ve filled in the desired area with color. While not as popular as straight strokes, there are definitely times when you might want to use this coloring technique. For beginners who are using coloring books, this stroke can be helpful. [EXAMPLE PIC] Tapping: This technique requires making tiny dots/marks on the paper. It seems pretty simple, but you can actually achieve very intricate designs with the tapping method. It’s useful for coloring in very tiny details on your piece, or for adding accents to an already colored area. [EXAMPLE PIC] Step 3: Creating Bold Colors Since colored pencils are semi-transparent, they can sometimes appear to produce pale or extremely light colors. But don’t worry – you can still achieve bold colors on paper with these pencils. Here are a few things to pay attention to if you’re wanting to get some vibrant hues: Pressure and Pencil Type: If you’re applying light pressure with your pencil onto your paper, then you aren’t going to get a bold color. The more pressure you add, the more vibrant your results are – but too much pressure can break the pencil’s tip. This is where the type of pencil you’re using comes into play. Soft pencils will produce deeper colors and are best for layering, so if you want to achieve rich colors, we recommend using this type of pencil. You can still use hard pencils, you’ll just have to do some layering. At Cheap Joe’s, we proudly offer a large selection of colored pencils from high-quality brands. Browse options from top manufacturers, such as PRISMACOLOR, Cretacolor, Caran d’Ache, Derwent, and Faber-Castell to find your new favorite pencils. Layering: This is a technique in which the artist continuously applies and reapplies the same color to an area until they reach their desired thickness or color result. It can be time-consuming, but it’s the best way to customize your piece and get it looking exactly how you want it. You can also create custom colors and shading by layering one color over another. Check Your Paper Quality: The last aspect you’ll want to consider is the type of paper you’re using. When you’re using these pencils, it’s best to use artist-grade white paper, as it works better with the semi-translucency of the pencils. Tinted or colored paper can be problematic because the paper color can show through. Although you can get dramatic effects by coloring on black or toned paper as long as you layer color opaquely. You’ll also want to make sure you’re using high-quality paper that’s strong enough to hold up against pressure. Also, a smoother paper with just a little tooth tends to work best to create vibrant colors and smooth transitions. [EXAMPLE PAPERS PIC] Getting Started with Colored Pencils We hope we’ve inspired you to pick up a colored pencil and start creating! Here at Cheap Joe’s, we have everything you need to get started with your new hobby. Check out our wide selection of pencils to find the highest-quality options at the best prices. We also have a great inventory of pencil cases and pouches, so you can protect, store, and transport your supplies as needed. Feel free to give us a call with any questions or concerns, and don’t forget to check out the Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff YouTube channel for product spotlights, art lessons, and more! Ready for another one of our mini art lessons? Today we will be covering one of today’s most popular coloring mediums: colored pencils. These pencils are preferred by artists of all ages because they’re easy to use and relatively inexpensive. Many people also love the nostalgic feeling that they get when working with these pencils, as it reminds them of coloring as a child. However, that’s not to say that colored pencil techniques are juvenile – there are a wide variety of ways you can use these versatile tools. Whether you’re a beginner looking for a new hobby or an advanced artist, learning to work with a colored pencil properly can be a game-changer. Colored Pencil Tips For Beginners We try to make our art lessons beginner-friendly, so we’re going to focus on sharing the fundamental instructions for using these pencils. There are plenty of additional techniques you can adopt at a more advanced level, but we’re sticking to the basics today. Step 1: Sharpening The Pencils Making sure your pencils are properly sharpened is extremely important. Having sharp pencils helps you maintain light pressure while you’re coloring your base layer since you don’t have to press down as hard. This also helps you avoid breaking the tips of your pencils. To sharpen them, you have to consider their components. You shouldn’t use a regular pencil sharpener, since a colored pencil has a core made of clay, wax, or oil-based materials. This affects how you sharpen them, and what kind of sharpener you should use. Let’s take a look at two types of pencils: Soft pencils: These pencils are made of clay or wax, and they’re best for producing deep colors and blending shades. However, they’re also very fragile and can break easily if you aren’t careful. When you’re sharpening soft pencils, it’s recommended that you use a handheld sharpener. Once you stick the pencil inside the sharpener, it’s best to sharpen it by turning the sharpener and keeping the pencil still. Hard pencils: These pencils are typically made of some kind of oil-based material, which makes them more similar to traditional lead-core pencils. They’re quite tough, so they can be sharpened with electric sharpeners or even artist’s knives if you prefer. Step 2: Understanding Basic Pencil Strokes Now that your pencils are nice and sharp, it’s time to start working on your strokes. While there are many different techniques you can apply, there are three basic strokes you’ll want to master: straight strokes, circular strokes, and tapping. Straight strokes: This is the stroke that most people are already familiar with. It’s also known as the “line,” because you’re repeatedly drawing them. You continue to add lines, placing them as close together as possible so they don’t look like separate strokes, but rather one mass of color. This technique is often used to create the base layer of a piece, and there are a few variations that you can try out if you’d like. They are: Hatching – drawing lines side by side, either close together or far apartCrosshatching – drawing overlapping lines in opposite directionsBack and forth – coloring in a continuous back-and-forth motion Circular strokes: You can achieve this stroke by continuously drawing small or large circles, making sure they stay connected until you’ve filled in the desired area with color. While not as popular as straight strokes, there are definitely times when you might want to use this coloring technique. For beginners who are using coloring books, this stroke can be helpful. Tapping: This technique requires making tiny dots/marks on the paper. It seems pretty simple, but you can actually achieve very intricate designs with the tapping method. It’s useful for coloring in very tiny details on your piece, or for adding accents to an already colored area. Hatching Crosshatching Back and Forth or Scribbling Circular Tapping or Pointilism Step 3: Creating Bold Colors Since colored pencils are semi-transparent, they can sometimes appear to produce pale or extremely light colors. But don’t worry – you can still achieve bold colors on paper with these pencils. Here are a few things to pay attention to if you’re wanting to get some vibrant hues: Pressure and Pencil Type: If you’re applying light pressure with your pencil onto your paper, then you aren’t going to get a bold color. The more pressure you add, the more vibrant your results are – but too much pressure can break the pencil’s tip. This is where the type of pencil you’re using comes into play. Soft pencils will produce deeper colors and are best for layering, so if you want to achieve rich colors, we recommend using this type of pencil. You can still use hard pencils, you’ll just have to do some layering. Layering: This is a technique in which the artist continuously applies and reapplies the same color to an area until they reach their desired thickness or color result. It can be time-consuming, but it’s the best way to customize your piece and get it looking exactly how you want it. You can also create custom colors and shading by layering one color over another. Heavy Pressure on Left, Light Pressure on Right Layering the Same Color Over Itself to Get a Value Range Layering Different Colors to Mix Colors Check Your Paper Quality: The last aspect you’ll want to consider is the type of paper you’re using. When you’re using these pencils, it’s best to use artist-grade white paper, as it works better with the semi-translucency of the pencils. Tinted or colored paper can be problematic because the paper color can show through. Although you can get dramatic effects by coloring on black or toned paper as long as you layer color opaquely. You’ll also want to make sure you’re using high-quality paper that’s strong enough to hold up against pressure. Also, a smoother paper with just a little tooth tends to work best to create vibrant colors and smooth transitions. colored pencil drawing paper pads with toned, black, white, and cream drawing paper Getting Started with Colored Pencils We hope we’ve inspired you to pick up a colored pencil and start creating! Here at Cheap Joe’s, we have everything you need to get started with your new hobby. Check out our wide selection of pencils to find the highest-quality options at the best prices. We proudly offer a large selection of colored pencils from high-quality brands. Browse options from top manufacturers, such as PRISMACOLOR, Cretacolor, Caran d’Ache, Derwent, and Faber-Castell to find your new favorite pencils. We also have a great inventory of pencil cases and pouches, so you can protect, store, and transport your supplies as needed. Feel free to give us a call with any questions or concerns, and don’t forget to check out the Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff YouTube channel for product spotlights, art lessons, and more! Colored Pencil Portrait on Toned Paper by Julie Davis
Using Colored Pencils For Beginners
Ready for another one of our mini art lessons? Today we will be covering one of today’s most popular coloring mediums: colored pencils. These pencils are preferred by artists of...
Why You Should Use an Art Easel Stand
Many artists prefer using an easel for painting rather than working with a flat surface. But how do you know if an artist easel is right for you? If you’ve ever found yourself questioning the purpose of an art easel stand, and whether or not you actually need one, you’re in the right place. Today, we’re going to walk you through the history of the well-loved tool so you can understand why it’s been around for so long. We’ll also explain all of the benefits you’d be missing out on if you didn’t add one to your studio. Let’s get started! What Is An Art Easel? Let’s begin with a simple definition. An easel is a structure designed to support an artist’s canvas. You’ll also often find them being used for displaying a finished piece of artwork. Today, they’re typically used to allow artists to paint while standing, and they hold the canvas up at an angle of about 20 degrees. There are many different uses for an easel, as the invention dates pretty far back into our world’s history. Benefits Of Using An Art Easel Stand Using an easel to prop up a canvas provides many benefits. Having the surface at an angle helps avoid any distortion in the artist’s perspective. This solves the problem of accidentally creating larger figures at the top of the canvas, and smaller ones at the bottom (due to an inaccurate or distorted view). It also makes it easier to step back from your work periodically and view it from a distance. This simply can't be done when your art is laying flat on a table. Easels can also be set up in the best natural light in your studio, or positioned so that they are more easily lit by additional light sources to reduce hand shadows. Ultimately, we find easels often help give the artist confidence that they’re creating proper proportions in their art, so they can work freely and creatively without hesitation. History Of The Artist Easel Believe it or not, the history behind art easels is actually pretty complex, dating back to Ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptian hieroglyph artists pulled their skirts taut around their knees as a sturdy place to write on their tablets. Because much of their writing and art had religious implications, their finished tablets were displayed on elevated platforms now known as the bookstand. Easels are officially recorded as far back as the first century CE when Pliny the Elder (author of the book Natural History) had written about a panel being painted on by an artist. The panel had been propped up on what could have only been one of the first easels. His book was published in AD 77, so it has been assumed that the easel was invented before that date. From there, more proof of the easel’s existence was discovered in Asia’s history. An art piece from China during the 8th century entitled “A Contemplative Scholar” by artist Wang Wei seems to depict a man using an easel-like structure while studying/reading. In the 12th century, monks began using illuminated easels to ensure their written manuscripts came out as best as they could. Then, in the 13th century, the need for easels rose immensely. Canvas paintings were becoming more popular, and as the renaissance progressed, the easel became a staple tool in the art society. Easel Sizes And Style Options Like most tools, the artist easel has grown and evolved over time. In modern times, there are a variety of easel sizes and styles to choose from, depending on your specific needs. In general, there are about 10 different types of easels that artists use, each for a slightly different purpose. Today, you’ll be able to make a selection from the following styles: A-frame/lyre easels, H-frame easels, giant easels, convertible/hybrid easels, single mast easels, tabletop art easels, portable/plein air easels, bench easels/art horses, display easels, and children’s easels. Each type varies in size, style, and structure, so it all depends on what you’re wanting to use your art easel stand for. For example, many are free-standing (A-frame, H-frame, single mast, etc.) but others are designed to sit on a tabletop. Pricing can vary greatly as well, depending on the quality and type of easel you’re searching for. While some options, like giant easels, can go for a hefty $1800, other more affordable options can work just as well. It all depends on your preference! Cheap Joe’s Artist Easels Here at Cheap Joe’s, we proudly offer a large selection of the finest painters easels on the market. Here you’ll find a variety of A-frame easels, aluminum and metal easels, art horses and bench easels, convertible and hybrid easels, display and presentation easels, giant easels, H-frame easels, outdoor and plein air easels, single mast easels, table easels, wood easels, and even workstations with integrated easels. It may seem like a lot of options, and that’s because it is! But that just means you’re guaranteed to find the easel you need, right here at Cheap Joe’s. We know that choosing the right easel can seem daunting, especially when there are so many sizes and styles available. That’s why our art experts are always available to help out! If you have questions about selecting an artist easel, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
Why You Should Use an Art Easel Stand
Many artists prefer using an easel for painting rather than working with a flat surface. But how do you know if an artist easel is right for you? If you’ve...
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